The superhero cinematic universes all have varying degrees of uncertainty about their future projects. Marvel hasn't looked too far beyond it's Phase Three. DC changes its lineup every few weeks. And the X-Men timeline is in a state of development, with several major projects on the precipice of full-blown production. As Logan nears theaters, X-Men fans may be wondering what's going on with the announced but delayed Gambit movie. Well, it sounds like it has a time frame in mind.
CinemaBlend Events Editor Eric Eisenberg recently spoke with X-Men overseers Simon Kinberg and Hutch Parker about James Mangold's Logan, and the state of multiple X-Men movies. When we brought up Gambit, Kinberg confirmed to us:
In terms of Gambit, that's a movie that we're still developing very actively, and Channing [Tatum] is incredibly committed to it. We plan to probably shoot that at the beginning of next year.
This is encouraging news for a feature film that hasn't had too many wins. After landing Channing Tatum to star as the Cajun X-Man, Gambit has lured (and lost) numerous high-profile directors, including Edge of Tomorrow helmer Doug Liman and Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt. The Gambit movie has been in various stages of development for so long that other names like JC Chandor and Gareth Evans (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) all have had their names attached to the project at one time or another. At the moment, Gambit has no director, but the leading man continues to be on board.
The thing about Gambit is that movies like Logan and Deadpool are blazing a trail, and showing how standalone stories centered around characters who have connections to the X-Men universe absolutely can succeed, if the filmmaking teams behind them are given the freedom, time and leeway to make the right type of movie. Deadpool was unlike any superhero movie that came before it, and it had Ryan Reynolds' fingerprints all over it. The same goes for Logan, which absolutely is the TYPE of Wolverine movie that Hugh Jackman wanted to make for his final time out.
The final puzzle piece (or one of them, anyway) remains hiring the right director who wants to help Channing Tatum bring his vision of the card-tossing mutant to the big screen. Tatum has been around long enough that if there's a filmmaker her collaborates well with, he should be able to bring him into the fold. Once the hire has been made, the production can move forward. If they shoot early next year, could a November or December 2018 release date for Gambit be attainable? We shall see.
